BREAKING RULES, Combining two worlds (Part 3)

UNDER ATTACK

Back at the Two Rivers Clan

"What do you mean, you suddenly lost contact with Tároc Reh'tec? I hope you tried to contact him again?" Sitting behind his desk, he looked at the older warrior with growing concern. This was bad news, definitely bad news!

His chief of communication, nodded.

"Of course I did, Tároc, but it's almost like all communication has been blocked! We're both blind and deaf! As soon as I lost contact with the Tároc, both communications and all cameras went black. That's why I'm here! I have already informed Ikat Gh'ara and he is currently tightening security as we speak."

Rhán grunted approvingly, knowing that he had to speak to Gh'ara as soon as possible!

"Thanks update, Hy'lar. Have you distributed our hand comms? I want all commanders to be able to contact Gh'ara, each other and myself at all times! Something is very wrong! I assume you already have put a team together to get the communications system and cameras back online?" The man nodded again in confirmation, when suddenly the door burst open and a very agitated Gh'ara marched in.

"What the hell is going on, Hy'lar? We're completely blind! With his good eye he looked from the commander to his brother.

"I have a really bad feeling about this, Rhán...!" The Tároc nodded affirmatively to his brother and right hand.

"You're not the only one brother, all three of us do... Hy'lar said you doubled security? I want you to send some men to warn the clans in the area and I want all the women and children to come to the shelters! Every warrior and guard, both men and women, except those already standing guard, I want to see all of them gathered in ten minutes..." Irritated Rhán shook his head, he couldn't give such order, now that all the gauntlets weren't working and he angrily slammed his fist on his desk.

"... make that half an hour... I want them all gathered in the main hall! In the meantime I want to speak to you, Gyldar and Anvar in private!"

But before Rhán was able to send the two men out, a dull thud was heard, and the office window was suddenly shattered into a million small pieces, flying in all directions. The men themselves were pinned to the ground for the first few seconds, but the moment the sirens started to wail, all three of them sprinted towards the door.

As the bombardments continued, the men took their posts and, each in their own way, tried to bring all their clan members to safety

Although all of Gh'ara's warriors were in top condition, as were the men and women of the security, fighting and securing the fortress and its inhabitants was complicated by the fact that almost all means of communication had been disabled, allowing Latarji's warriors to easily penetrate Rhán's defense.

The fighting was fierce and deadly and heavy casualties were suffered on both sides in the first hours after the bombing.

In the meantime, Rhan had sent a small team of men to find the device that was messing up their technology, and after several hours of searching, the small team, led by Bahkat, located the scramblers' location.

After a short but fierce fight, his team was finally able to disable the equipment, allowing Hy'lar and his people to get the communications resources back online again.

While most of the leaders of the former female clans had always considered Rhán's annual collective evacuation training grossly exaggerated, it suddenly became painfully clear how important this turned out to be.

To Rhán's relief, the shelters had already started to fill up with women and children shortly after the attacks had started, allowing the Tároc and his Ikats to concentrate on the defense of the fortress.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gh'ara noticed an enemy warrior trying to get away by clambering over the boulders of one of the shattered walls, and though the muscles in his lower legs nearly gave out in pain, the Ikat gave chase.

The giant was swift for someone of his age, and even though his old injuries, which almost cried out in pain, nearly forced him to give up the pursuit, the Ikat pushed his body to its limits to persue the enemy.

After a short chase, just as he had reached the man within a few yards, the enemy warrior suddenly stopped and turned around to face the Ikat.

Automatically, Ghara took a firm grip on his weapon with both hands and aimed the barrel at the man's head.

Slowly he walked over to the man, who, to his surprise, continued to look at him calmly and defiantly, his arms crossed arrogantly.

When he's less then two meters in front of the man Gh'ara halts, and his eyes narrow into slits. He knows that face...

"Long time no see, Ikat..." And to his surprise, the man starts to snicker cheerfully.

With his hand, his opponent reaches for one of his horns and taps his index finger against it.

"This one, Latarji had made especially for me, after I recovered from the injuries you inflicted on me... Ohh, you can't imagine how I'd wished I could have been there when the Tároc tortured you, unfortunately I was recovering at the time. But over the years I had plenty of time to come up with a very sweet revenge plan...

Uh uhuh!" The man raised his finger to signal the Ikat not to come any closer.

A trio of blue dots appeared on Gh'ara's chest and although he wasn't able to see, the Ikat suspected that there were several more dots directed at his head as well. His lips curled into a snarl and a dark rumble arose from his throat.

"J'ysa! You filthy Roh'kadi! I should have killed you when I had the chance!"

The man in front of him started to chuckle. "Yeah you should've old man..., but you let yourself be guided by the big heart of your friend Varsa and that was a stupid move!"

J'ysa waved his finger towards the Ikat and snickered devilishly.

"Not a step further Gh'ara, otherwise my men will shoot you into a million pieces without any hesitation, something I'd rather not see happening right now, because there's something want you to whitness first... Remember, how I told you a few minutes ago, about that sweet revenge I had planned for you...?"

A restless feeling started to form in the giant's gut as the former member of his team raised his gauntlet and typed something onto it.

"Do me a favour Gh'ara, and turn your head a little to the right..."

Although Gh'ara didn't trust the man a bit, he did as was asked. And at first he saw nothing, but then he realized in which direction he was looking at and an ice-cold feeling took a firm hold on his heart.

"Ah... I think something is dawning!" The manical laughter that followed, caused Gh'ara's body to freeze instantly.

Just seconds later a bright flash of light appeared in the distance, followed by a dull thump of an explosion.

Ghara felt his brain short circuit. The blood began to rush in his ears and the cold hand that was already holding his heart began to squeeze even more. His breathing began to become irregular and his vision blurred. The legs that already felt like jelly gave way beneath him, and with a dull thud the mighty warrior landed on his knees on the ground.

Not a word passed his lips, all Gh'ara was able to do was to stare in the direction of his own house. The place where his bunny Kayla, together with their daughters Nina and a heavily pregnant Tiya, were hidding in the shelter he built himself...